Salem City revitalization gains new momentum, but leader says more help needed

SALEM — It’s been one of the most successful years yet in efforts to revitalize Salem City, but more is needed in terms of capital, volunteers and fresh ideas.

That’s the assessment of Keith Campbell, president of Stand Up For Salem, the non-profit organization that oversees the Salem Main Street program and has spent a quarter of a century working for the betterment of the city.

“If we are going to fulfill our hopeful dreams of rebuilding our downtown and rebuilding our neighborhoods, we are going to need businesses and individuals like you to stand up for Salem,” Campbell told guests at the organization’s annual fundraising dinner Wednesday night.

The NRTC program, administered through the state Department of Community Affairs, provides business entities a 100 percent tax credit for funds provided to non-profit entities such as Stand Up For Salem carrying out revitalization plans.

“With this, we anticipate we will grow into a larger and larger entity with more grants so we can affect more neighborhoods,” Campbell said.

The nearly $1 million grant will be used to demolish some of the city’s most critical vacant structures, to weatherize and seal properties with potential for repair, and to provide Salem City homeowners with grants and loans to make important repairs of their own, officials said when it was announced this summer.

While the NRTC funds will focus primarily on housing, officials like Campbell hope the grant will provide the momentum for additional funding for downtown revitalization efforts.

To help the effort, Campbell said Stand Up For Salem would be undertaking a major fundraising campaign “to ask corporations and business owners to make a pledge and to invest in Salem.”

He added that despite many important initiatives already completed, there are naysayers who don’t believe in a Salem renaissance.

Campbell pointed to Glassboro and the millions in investment that have transformed the town and the area around Rowan University.

“Is it far-fetched to say that can happen in Salem? I don’t think so, but in our own way. So for those folks who say its hopeless, nah, that’s not in the dictionary,” Campbell said.

Stand Up For Salem was organized in 1988 by John “Johnny” B. Campbell II, the late chairman of the board for Mannington Mills, the title Keith Campbell holds today.

John Campbell got the idea for Stand Up For Salem after the city’s own Charles Pedersen won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1987, saying that one of his wishes was to see his home of downtown Salem revitalized.

Originally, the program was only meant to run for four years. During that time, Stand Up for Salem oversaw construction of Fenwick Plaza and the John B. Campbell Family and Fitness Center on Walnut Street, where Wednesday night’s dinner was held.

Keith Campbell reactivated the program in 1999 at the same time that Salem City was designated a Main Street community by the state Department of Community Affairs. Among the accomplishments since that time are the construction of the Salem Senior Center and the reconstruction of the Finlaw Building. Main Street also sponsors a large number of events meant to draw the community together and showcase Salem.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Pedersen-Campbell Award, which was named after John Campbell and Charles Pedersen. The award recognizes those who have helped in the revitalization of Salem and contributed to the good of the community.

This year’s recipient was Todd Norris, who Campbell described as the unsung, behind-the-scenes hero who helped so many of Stand Up For Salem’s projects come to fruition.

Norris, chief financial officer at Mannington Mills, said many of the projects have been “challenges” that took “a lot of effort, a lot of dedication.”

“It takes people to do this,” Norris said. “It takes the young as well as the older to come together to make things happen. I think we’ve accomplished that, but there a lot of further things to accomplish. It will take everyone in this room to achieve these goals.”

The wide support for the effort to revitalize Salem was evidenced by those attending Wednesday night’s dinner. Leaders from business, government, law enforcement, the religious community and private citizens were all there.

Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-3rd Dist., attending along with Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assemblywoman Celeste Riley, both D-3rd Dist., summed up the commitment shown by many.

“We believe in this city, we believe in its people and we believe in its future,” Burzichelli said.